In the book of Numbers, chapter 13 and 14, we have an account of the Israelites coming up to the promise land. They were brought out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God. The Lord gave them the law on Mt. Sinai and now is ready to take possession of the promise land. Twelve spies were sent into the land, but ten of them came back with a bad report; saying how big the people were and how fortified the cities were. They made the people’s hearts melt like wax. Contrary to that the other two spies said how God would deliver the land to them as promised. But the people believed the ten spies, they lived in unbelief, they refused to believe God’s promises. They didn’t follow God’s will for their lives, but wanted to take their life in their own hands. They wanted to find a new leader and returned to slavery in Egypt. In doing so, they rejected God’s plan and God’s chosen leader, Moses. Their rejection of Moses and the plan that was laid before them was a rejection of God Himself.
But what does their rebellion have to do with us? I think the better question is how are we like them at times in our life? When we reject or neglect seeking God’s will for our lives we are no different than those who believed the ten spies. No matter if we reject His plan out of self-centeredness, fear or unbelief. Just like the Israelites who suffered because of their disobedience, also so will we. There was another consequence for the Israelites, in Numbers 14:33, it states, “And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. “ The New King James reads, “And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.”
God uses the words unfaithful and infidelity to describe their decision not to follow His will for their lives. The same is true for us when we choose our will over His. We are not the only ones who will suffer, but others will also. Our children, our friends, our family and those whom God would use to bring about His kingdom through what He would have done through us. We will suffer just as others will suffer. In Numbers 13 and 14 we see God judging the people, but also allowing those who were innocent, those who were under twenty had to wait forty years before entering the promise land.
So what is our promise land? What is God wanting you to posses but you refused and rejected God’s plan, and replaced it with our own. What wreckage in your present or past is due to your unwillingness to submit to God’s plan? How have you suffered by the actions of others who sought their own wisdom and desires over God’s plan? How many divorces, broken homes, breakups of relationships and other painful events are due to seeking our own wisdom, over God’s? How much pain is caused because we see God’s plan as too slow, or too hard, or we wanted to avoid pain, fear or we just want a life of fun and enjoy a life of little or any commitment? The problem is when we think that our desires and plan is better, when we are selfish and think our actions won’t hurt anyone else. We live in a world that calls us to live life “our way,” but if we call ourselves Christians, than we under Christ and He is our Lord.
So do we pick and choose to seek God’s will in ways that seem right to us in our own eyes, or do we seek Him in all things?
Most of us will seek God's will as long as we see things going our way; when it appears that His will is aligned with ours. We go off course when we fail to see how God may be attempting to discipline us, teach us something we need to know or protect us by keeping us from making wrong decisions.
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